10AD
History Built to colonial London-Edinburgh specifications, this chassis with the taller 22 inch radiator was constructed to carry a 5 passenger body of 7 cwt. The wheels chosen were Dunlop wire wheels, with 895 x 135 mm Dunlop grooved tyres. These were fitted to the car on 4 March 1915. There was one spare wheel fitted. The car had commenced its factory tests on 14 January 1915, and was 'Off test, 20/3/15.' One curious annotation on the cards says 'In deposit, see card for [[3ED]].' It was packed for shipping by the Motor Packing Company, London, and subsequently shipped by agents Tozer, Kemsley and Fisher to Melbourne. It was then forwarded to Sydney, where it was clad with its original coachwork by Angus and Son of 165-167 Castlereagh St and 10-14 Sloane Street, Newtown. The chassis cards called for a weight allowance for 'Standard spares, 300 lbs.' and maximum passenger weight of 770 lbs. The total load on the chassis was recommended at 2056 lbs. Reference to the ground clearances notes that these were as specified on original instructions dated 25 November 1913. When speaking of [[10AD]], Bert Ward said that it was a twin to [[7BD]] in almost every detail. It was painted a smart dark blue colour all over, then registered in early 1917 carrying (NSW) 16992. The original owner of Rolls-Royce [[10AD]] was William J.Adams of the Tattersall's Hotel and Tattersall's Lottery fame. William J. Adams was the son and Trusteee of the Estate of The Late George Adams whose interests included the Tattersall's Hotel, Marble Bar and Adams Cafe in Pitt and George Streets, Sydney, the Bulli Colliery and Coke Works south of Sydney, and the Palace Electric Lighting Station and Palace Theatre, at 259-261 George Street, adjacent to the hotel. There is little reference on the factory cards to early modifications to [[10AD]]. In 1917 it appeared twice at the Sydney Depot for maintenance to the radiator to repair leakages, while stronger front springs were also fitted in May 1917. The Registration No. was changed to (NSW) 72 in the early 1920s, when William J. Adams relinquished his beloved pre-war 35/45 HP Fiat which had carried that plate since the inception of NSW registrations. This latter registration plate is still in the Adams family on a recent model Bentley. During the early 1920s, 1 OAD also underwent a major chassis overhaul involving removal of the bodywork. This was undertaken at the Sydney Depot in Balfour Street, Chippendale, overseen by Adams' chauffeur, Mr Hogan. The car was fitted with a bonnet bearing fifteen vertical louvres on each side panel. Upon the death of William Adams, [[10AD]] was retained by Mrs Adams, at Holyrood, The Boulevard, Strathfield. She eventually sold it to the Sydney firm of undertakers, Wood Coffill Ltd in 1936 to be used as a mourning coach. This car, reputedly along with other Silver Ghosts owned by Wood Coffill Ltd, ( see [[60757]], [[1166]], and [[2177]]) was pensioned out of the Wood Coffill fleet of cars and sold. Bert Ward told the story of the young man who purchased [[10AD]] and brought it along to the workshops around 1949 or 1950, for an assessment of the cost to overhaul the chassis.Ward told him he could not believe how the once well-maintained car had been allowed to deteriorate so badly, and he suggested that he could not begin to assess the costs involved. He facetiously suggested that the owner should insure it well and drive it over Ben Buckler, a noted Sydney Harbour cliff-face. In 1960, there was a knock on the door of the home of Stan Nash in Sydney, after 10 pm, one cold and wet evening. Stan was been in bed at the time of the visitor's arrival. When he went to the door there stood a man dressed in a raincoat, but drenched. He enquired if he was the Mr Nash who might be interested in buying a 1923 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Nash agreed that he could be interested but when he tried to establish an appropriate time to view the car his visitor insisted that he come immediately. Nash recalls that he did not think it a good idea at the time, but allowed himself to be persuaded. He donned his wet weather apparel and agreed to go with the visitor. He was amazed to find that his visitor had arrived on a motor scooter. Stan Nash followed behind that motor scooter to a home off Concord Rd, Rhodes. Here the pair viewed the car with the light of a torch and the price of thirty pounds was proposed. Nash only had twenty with him, which the owner gratefully accepted. An agreement was made to leave the car at this site for some time and Stan returned home to bed. He was not to establish for some time afterwards that he had actually purchased an Edwardian Silver Ghost as he had simply agreed to buy this car for spares for another he was hoping to buy. When acquired, the car had a truck gearbox fitted to the frame and had been driven to the site. The body was thought to be ex-1938 Studebaker or similar. Apart from these shortcomings the chassis was substantially complete and original. For 35 years Stan believed the car to be [[11BD]], as this number was stamped on the rear axle housing, and Bert Ward identified it as [[11BD]] from this. It is now established that the car is definitely [[10AD]], and the original fitting of the rear axle stamped [[11BD]] is recorded on the [[10AD]] chassis cards, confirming another of the common factory changes prior to original delivery. Today [[10AD]] is under restoration in Queensland after a period in storage. The owner is desperate to locate an original period four-speed gearbox for the car. {note}The initial text for this article was taken from "''[[Silver Ghosts Of Australia and New Zealand]]''", with the permission of its author, [[Ian Irwin]].{note} Attributes